Vacuum fixture



Jan. 10, 1956 c, VAN DUSEN ET AL 2,730,325

VACUUM FIXTURE Filed July 17. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l CHQELES 7. VQN DUSENfil/QENCE (U. Vq/s 0055M INVENTORS BY a a Jan. 10, 1956 Q VAN DUSEN ETAL 2,730,325

VACUUM FIXTURE Filed July 17. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 CHQQES' 7. 14 7MDMS'EN LHUEENCE 6U. Vfifi/ OMS'EN INVENTORS HTTOQNEHS' VACUUM FIXTURE:

Charles A. Van Dusen. and Laurencev W. Van Dusen, Escondido, (faith,assignors to Van Dusen Engineering (Iompany, Escondido, Califl, acopartnershlp Application July 17, 1950, Serial No. 174,292

6 Claims. (Cl. 248-206) This invention relates to vacuumattachmentdevices and is directed particularly to improvements over the form ofvacuum fixtures disclosed in the copending applications of Laurence W.Van Dusen, SerialNo; 103,970, now Patent No. 2,634,076, filed July 11,1949, and Serial No. 129,845, now Patent No. 2,634,077, filed November28, 1949.

One of the principal objects of our invention is to provide vacuumattachment devices having improved means for supporting articles anddevices without the necessity of any special supporting elements andwithout requiring that any holes be drilled in metal;

Another object of our invention is to provide-a vacuum attachment devicehaving an outer mounting plate formed of. a plastic material which issuitable for the reception of wood screws.

Another object of our invention is to provide a vacuum attachment deviceemploying the principle of operation setforth in the above-mentionedcopending applications but embodying an impervious shell and mountingplate construction of improved durability and enhanced appearance.

Another object of our invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed above employing a rubber-like diaphragm or. suction member,the suction member being held in operative position by means ofan-impervious' shell, the shell having an annular lip covering the outerperiphery of the suction member;-

A further object of this invention is to provide improved plastic.structures having means permitting thickwallcd elements to be molded orcast without'excessive shrinkage and also permitting the entry of woodscrews without splitting or fracturing the plastic;

Other objects and advantages of our-invention it is believed will beapparentfrom-the following detailed de-' scription of preferredembodiments thereof when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

in the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a towel rack supported by apreferred embodiment of-our invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly broken away, showing oneof thevacuum attachment supports.

Figure 3 is a sectionalelevation taken substantially on the line 33 ofFigure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation taken substantially on the line 44 ofFigure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation similar to that shown in Figure 3,butillustrating a modified embodiment of our invention.

Figure 6 is a sectional elevation similar to that shown in Figure 3, butillustrating a further modified embodiment of our invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the vacuum attachment device generallydesignated leis-supported on-the'impervious surface 11 of a wall 12. Thedevice includes a diaphragm. or suction cup. 13, preferably-of syntheticrubber, havinga peripheral contact .por'tioni14-provided with an annulargroove 15; Overlyin'g;the.-outer surface 2,730,325 0 Patented Jan. 10,1956 outer periphery 20 of the rigid metallic plate2'1 which is imbeddedin the suction-cup 13 and bonded thereto. An internally threadedmetallic element 22 is secured' centrally of the plate 21'by anyconvenient means such as; for example, by Welding, and a tension screw23 is threaded intothis element 21. Mounted on'the' shell ld is-themounting plate or disk 24having a central aperture' 25" through whichthe tensionscrew'23 extends. A'metallic washer 26 rests on the disk 24and engages the head portion 27 of the screw 22; An annular seat 28'isprovided on the disk 24'-f0r the reception of theinner rim 19 of theshell 16.

The vacuum attachment device 10 is'mounted'on the wall 12 in the samemanner as described in the abovementioned copending applications.Briefly, the disk 24 and shell 16 are removed from the diaphragm 13 bydisconnecting the screw 23. The inner surface 29 of the diaphragm- 13 ismoistened'and the diaphragm is then pushed flat against the surface ofthe wall 12 so that'substantially all of the air isextractedbetween thesurfaces ll'land 29; The annular shell lfi is installed with its rim 17in thegroove 15 and the-disk'24' is then installed over the-shell 16 sothat the inner rirn19'of the shell is engaged in the seat 28-onthe disk24. The screw-ZS-is inserted through the washer 26 and a'screw driver(not shown) is used to turn the screw relativeto the metallic threadedelement 22. Thisaction serves-to create a vaccum space 30 between thesurfaces 11 and 29 and toapply sealing force against the peripheralcontact lip l4 ofthel diaphragm 13. That portion of. the contact'lipwhich lies under the rim i7 'issubjected to relatively high compressiveforces, thereby effectively preventing en trance of air into the vacuumspace 30 Moreover, since the inner rim 19'of the shell 16 overlies theouter periphery 20 of the metallic plate 21, a portion 31 of thediaphragmlii is confined between the plate 2l-and shell 16 andis alsosubjected to highcompressive stresses with the result that air ispreventedfrom leaking inwardly through this zone of compression.These'two compression zonesform in effect, concentric leakproof gasketspreventing, with the impervious'shell l-andplate-21, entrance of airinto the vacuum space 3% The disk 24 is formed of molded or cast plasticmaterial. It is to be understood thatvacuum' attachment devices made inaccordance withour invention may housed in supporting variousobjects anddevices suchas towel I racks, can openers,- pencil Sharpeners; etc.Therefore,

it is' desirableth'at a mounting plate be provided on the" vacuumattachment device-to which any one of several types of devices may besecured without requiring special attachment members or'matching drilledholes. In the copendingapplication of Laurence W Van Dusen, Serial No.129,845, now Patent :No. 2,634,077, filed'Novernbe r 28, 1949,isdisclosed a plywood mounting plate or disk attached to a' kitchen wallor fixture. The plastic mate-'- rials are generally more durable 'and'resis tant to' moisture, heat, solvents, and cleaning preparations andare available'in a wide variety of attractive colors.

The structure" of molded or cast plastic materials is.v

such; that'it-is extremely difiicult to use ordinary"woo'd screwswithout chipping or fracturing the" plastic mate:

rial. In order to overcome this difliculty, the mounting disk 24 isprovided with a plurality of longitudinal bores or holes 32. These holesare preferably about 4 of an inch in diameter and spaced uniformly sothat there is a minimum wall thickness between holes of approximately &of an inch. The holes preferably extend to within about of an inch ofthe imperforate front mounting face 33. We have found that the holes 32permit easy insertion of wood screws into the plastic and further thatshrinkage and cavitation of such a thick section of plastic in themolding operation is prevented by use of cores to form the holes.

Wood screws 34 may thus be used to attach any desired device or article,and it is unnecessary to drill any matching holes or attach any specialbrackets for mounting such articles and devices on the vacuum attachmentdevice. As shown in the drawings, a towel rack assembly including a bar35 and brackets 36 is mounted on the device 10. Each of the brackets 36may be provided with the usual mounting flange 37 and the wood screws 34extend through openings provided in the flange. It is of courseunderstood that other devices such as can openers, ice crushers, soapdispensers, towel dispensers etc., may be conveniently supported byattachment devices incorporating our invention.

In selecting plastic material for use as a mounting disk in such anattachment device it is necessary to consider that the material must notbe so brittle as to crack or split when wood screws are inserted thereinand yet it must be sufficiently hard to resist flow under the constantpressure applied at screw head 27. The cellulose acetate plastics areparticularly well adapted for this use, but other plastics such asphenolics, acrylics, ureas, vinyls, etc., may be used, as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the preferred embodiment of our invention illustrated in Figure 3,the shell 16 is formed of a plastic material which may be somewhatharder than that used for the mounting disk 24. The outer lip 18 is animportant feature of our invention since it acts as a hood or covermember for the periphery of the resilient diaphragm 13, keeping itsubstantially sealed to prevent the accumulation of dust and dirt. Theshell 16 may be stamped or formed of steel, if desired.

The modified form of our invention illustrated in Figure issubstantially similar to the device shown in Figure 3, with theexception that the shell 40 is formed integrally with the mounting disk41. This unitary construction provides a structure ofimproved'appearance. The incorporation of the smoothly curved surface 42also prevents the accumulation of foreign matter.

The further modification of our invention illustrated in Figure 6 issubstantially similar to that shown in Figure 5, but here a metal innershell 45 is interposed between the plastic outer shell 40 and thediaphragm 13 providing a more rugged assembly. This reinforcing shell 45may be molded into the plastic shell; it may be a separate part securedto the plastic by friction set or other means; or it may be a separatepart which remains so until the unit is mounted for use.

While we have shown and described our improved device in connection witha circular suction cup or diaphragm, it will be understood that the cupmay be made in oval shape or even in a square or rectangular shape asdesired, and that the cooperating parts of the device are shaped insimilar manner.

Having fully described our invention, it is to be understood that we donot wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but ourinvention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A suction type fastener comprising the combination of a resilientsuction cup, an impervious shell having a continuous rim adapted tocompress a continuous portion of the suction cup against a mountingsurface, a

rigid plate imbedded within the central portion of the suction cup, afirst screw element fixed to the rigid plate and protruding from theback face of the suction cup, a central plastic mounting plate overlyingan inner rim on the impervious shell and being provided with a centralaperture, said mounting plate having a plurality of voids therein tofacilitate the insertion of wood screws, and a second screw elementextending through the central aperture and cooperating with the firstscrew element to move the central portion of the suction cup in adirection away from the mounting surface.

2. A suction type fastener comprising the combination of: a circularresilient suction cup; an impervious annular shell having an annular rimadapted to compress an annular portion of the suction cup against amounting surface; a rigid plate imbedded within the central portion ofthe suction cup; a first screw element fixed to the rigid plate andprotruding from the back face of the suction cup; a central plasticmounting disk overlying an inner rim on the impervious shell, saidmounting disk having an imperforate front mounting face and a relativelythick wall provided with a plurality of uniformly spaced longitudinalbores extending from the back of said plate to a position adjacent saidfront mounting face, whereby the insertion of wood screws isfacilitated; and a second screw element extending through a centralaperture in said disk and cooperating with the first screw element tomove the central portion of the suction cup in a direction away from themounting surface.

3. A suction type fastener comprising the combination of a resilientsuction cup, an impervious shell having a continuous rim adapted tocompress a continuous portion of the suction cup against a mountingsurface, a rigid plate imbedded within the central portion of thesuction cup, a first screw element fixed to the rigid plate andprotruding from the back face of the suction cup, a central plasticmounting plate integral with said impervious shell and being providedwith a central aperture, said mounting plate having a plurality of voidstherein to facilitate the insertion of wood screws, and a second screwelement extending through the central aperture and cooperating with thefirst screw element to move the central portion of the suction cup in adirection away from the mounting surface.

4. A suction type fastener comprising the combination of a resilientsuction cup, an impervious shell having a continuous rim adapted tocompress a continuous portion of the suction cup against a mountingsurface and an integral outer lip closely conforming to andsubstantially completely covering the outer perimeter of said suctioncup, a rigid plate imbedded within the central portion of the suctioncup, a first screw element fixed to the rigid plate and protruding fromthe back face of the suction cup, a central plastic mounting plateintegral with said impervious shell and being provided with a centralaperture, said mounting plate having a plurality of voids therein tofacilitate the insertion of wood screws, and a second screw elementextending through the central aperture and cooperating with the firstscrew element to move the central portion of the suction cup in adirection away from the mounting surface.

5. A suction type fastener comprising the combination of a resilientsuction cup, an impervious outer shell of plastic material having acontinuous rim adapted to compress a continuous portion of the suctioncup against a mounting surface, a reinforcing shell interposed betweensaid outer shell and said suction cup, a rigid plate imbedded within thecentral portion of the suction cup, at first screw element fixed to therigid plate and protruding from the back face of the suction cup, acentral plastic mounting plate overlying an inner rim on the imperviousshell and being provided with a central aperture, said mounting platehaving a plurality of voids therein to facilitate the insertion of woodscrews, and a second screw element extending through the centralaperture and cooperating with the first screw element to move thecentral portion of the suction cup in a direction away from the mountingsurface.

6. A suction type fastener comprising the combination of a resilientsuction cup; a housing overlying the outer surface of said suction cup,said housing comprising an impervious shell having a continuous rimadapted to compress a continuous portion of the suction cup against amounting surface, and a central plastic plate extending from the centralportion of said shell, said plate having a central aperture and aplurality of voids therein to facilitate the insertion of wood screws; arigid plate imbedded within the central portion of the suction cup; andmechanical means operatively connecting the rigid plate with saidhousing for moving the central portion of the suction cup in a directionaway from the mounting surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSKrueger Dec. 18, Stratton et a1. Sept. 22, Barton May 12, Zaiger Jan.21, Zaiger July 14, Muter Mar. 4, Price May 20, T oland et a1 Mar. 2,Schneider Mar. 20, Soday Dec. 24, Neher et a1 June 29, Spencer Jan. 2,

